


I wish that

by Yesthatsmynaturalcolour



Category: Fall Out Boy
Genre: Fake/Pretend Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-07
Updated: 2015-05-07
Packaged: 2018-03-29 10:43:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3893398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yesthatsmynaturalcolour/pseuds/Yesthatsmynaturalcolour
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For the good press fake dating that becomes not so fake pretty quickly.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I wish that

The three of them are huddled around a table playing some stupid card game one of them made up years ago with no rules to it. Pete comes in, throwing the door to the bus open and making sure its shut behind him. He doesn’t look upset so much as, annoyed? Flopping in his usual spot to Patrick’s right. 

“What Sandra want to talk about?” Joe asks flipping a card over that Andy steals immediately and Joe lets him because luring someone into a false sense of security is the best way to win. 

“She says that having an in band relationship that’s I don’t know been this secret for awhile or something could do us some really good press right now since we’ve had not so good press lately.” He looks guilty and Patrick reaches over patting his back. 

“Wait.” Patrick says after a moment, and they all stop processing what Pete just said. “Like….besides your marriage? Like...one of us should be dating the other?” Andy steals one of Patrick’s cards when he’s not paying attention but is looking at Pete along with Joe. 

“Yeah, like, two of us have been dating this whole time and been trying to keep it a secret.” He expands. “I’m with Ashlee and that’s everywhere, so as much as I’d totally be in on this it has to be one of you…..or not has to. We don’t have to do anything we don’t want to. But. Could be?” Andy’s looking around at the others and it takes Pete a second to realize it’s because he stole all the cards and thus won the game. “It’s…..good press. To have a relationship in the band and still thriving as well as we are, to be okay with two guys dating in the band and show more support, a variety of reasons she listed to me and I’m sure you all want to here.” He looked at them, because well in the end it was up to all of them. 

“I mean….I don’t see the harm?” Joe shrugged. “It’s a matter of what if we really do meet someone we want to date….do we have a fake break up? Or what if…..the press turns it sideways because were all dudes and it ends up doing us more bad than good.” All pretty valid questions really, and Pete tilted his head a little looking up at the bus ceiling in attempts to think out a good answer to them. 

“A break up doesn’t have to be bad.” Andy said softly, and they all turned to him. “It could be we decided we found other things in our lives to focus on but still care deeply about one another…...and this scene has always been more open to being gay and accepting it…..fuck anyone who hates us for it.” Joe shrugs, and Patrick follows, and fuck it Pete things, they can spin this to positivity anyway and if Sandra thinks it’ll be really good for them they can give it a test run.

“So the question is...out of the three of you. Who should it be….we’ve got..Patrick and Joe, Joe and Andy, Patrick and Andy.” He nods ticking his fingers off and making sure he didn’t miss a combination of the three guys. It’s a bit weird now that he’s done it to be listing his friends off on who's going to be a couple for an undetermined amount of time, but no one seems really uncomfortable by it.

“Ask Sandra.” Andy offers softly, and sure, it was her idea. She can take the lists and decide who's got the best potential of bringing in the best for the band. He sets his phone down and laughs, snatching the cards off the table waiting for the reply while they start a new round and flip all the cards over. His phone buzzes a few minutes later, and a few rounds in and how the hell is Andy winning again, and he flips it open.

“Joe….and Andy?” He scratches his face looking at them and they shrug, not really needing the explanation she’d written out for him. He snapped his phone shut after sending her an okay and grinned at them. “Alright guys, guess we should work out the backstory.”

So they spent the night building upon stories that already existed. That it started sometime between the van days and the bus days, both of them growing closer over the time spent together more than the other two. Which was true, Joe and Andy had grown closer. They kept it a secret because it was something private and personal. They were happy, the band was happy for them. The only people who knew the truth would be the ones on the bus, Sandra, and Bob. As far as anyone else knew it was the truth including the crew. 

The thing that outed them, well. Pete leaked some very well angled blurry photos of the two on some forums and once the questions were sparked the fans built their own little background that they could use, when the moment finally came and they publically announced it, the chaos hit. It was fine for awhile, answering interviewers questions with well practiced stories and ideas. Dropping things fans had pulled when there was nothing giving it something and it worked. At first nothing changed, they did their things and occasionally sat close by on the couch, Andy still shared his food when he had it and his books. Still laughed at Joe’s jokes when no one else did, so it didn’t feel like they were faking anything. 

When they got upgraded to two bus’ Joe and Andy were carted off into one and Pete and Patrick into another and it just, it made slight sense. They were dating, and Joe and Andy were cleaner than the other guys. Crew shared bus’ so Joe and Andy took the back bed for themselves and it was just like bus days so he didn’t think too deeply about sharing a bed with his best friend. It was the first time something felt fake to him and he guessed he had to start getting use to it. 

He yawned, feeling the rumble of the bus under his back and rolled his head to look at Andy. Fast asleep, his hair falling out of the tie he’d pulled it into before going to bed and into his face. He was curled a little hands by his face and Joe turned back to looking at the ceiling. “Fuck.” He whispered. 

Andy made a noise and Joe couldn’t help but look watching him shift around stretching out and waking up before his grey eyes were blinking open and looking up at Joe, a soft tired smile on his face.

“Good morning.” He mumbled and Joe couldn’t help but smile back at tired eyes and the happy look he was getting.

“Good morning, dear.” He teased and Andy laughed lightly stretching out more. “So. We should probably start to talk about things were comfortable and not comfortable with as our relationship becomes more public.” He wiggled his fingers, but it was a deep fear of his to make sure nothing pushed this into the realm of uncomfortable for Andy. The drummer agreed to do it, but everyone had their limits and they weren’t really dating. Andy made a noise, sighing a little and holding his hand up and out, and Joe grabbed it threading their fingers together and to be honest it wasn’t the first time they held hands. The whole band held hands, it was just something that happened now and again. “Alright.” So holding hands was a good. 

“I...I hope people don’t expect me to...go out and party with you and stuff.” Andy admitted softly after a while of just holding hands and looking at the ceiling of the bus. Joe scoffed, because really. 

“Fuck them if they do. Pete doesn’t bring Ashlee everywhere he goes, just because were dating or not dating or whatever doesn’t mean you have this whole personality shift you have to make.” Andy’s fingers tightened on him and he felt a little proud of himself, because he meant it, he didn’t want Andy to change for this, or suffer because of it. From there, things did change. Andy and him had slightly more pda, held hands and sat closed together. Joe played with the others hand during interviews and during sound check and tuning they were usually found together. Andy leaning against Joe watching him tune. Joe found himself initiating more touches, and grinning when Andy welcomed them. Having to remind himself that they were suppose to be faking it, suppose to be liking it and reminding himself that Andy was doing this because someone asked him to. He may not mind it but having Joe form a dumb crush on him may not be what he wanted as an outcome. 

Which Andy is making it very fucking hard to remember laying sprawled out next to him asleep every morning, hair falling in his face and around the bed. Sometimes Joe even ties it up for him before bed while Andy’s reading something aloud to him and it’s so grossly domestic he’s got to stop and breathe. Because no ones watching them in those moments and they still...there still acting like a couple. The first time they kiss, it’s between the two bus’ and no one is around, Joe’s not sure why but he leans forward to Andy who's playing his sticks against his leg and he stills in a second and for a moment Joe thinks he should of asked but Andy kisses him back, kisses him like he talks soft and shy and Joe smiles a little breaking away and rubbing the back of his head. “Sorry, Sorry. Next time we should do that in front of people huh? I just...if I couldn’t do it when it was just us, there was no way I’d be able to do it in front of others.” Andy looks down a moment and shrugs.

“It’s fine.” He mumbles, and goes back to drumming. Joe frowns, but he doesn’t say anything more. There’s pictures of the kiss blurry and far away online the next day and Pete’s giving him a look, like he’s betrayed Joe didn’t let him leak it or something. 

He kisses Andy a lot more after that, around others only of course, before the show and after the show, before he goes out with the guys. Andy always welcomes it but Joe can’t shake that some things off in his eyes, when he asks though. Andy just smiles and shakes his head that he’s okay. And Joe believes him, because why would Andy lie about that?

It’s six months of this, six months of sleeping in the same bed, six months of kisses, holding hands and sharing a space together that Joe wakes up one morning, turns his head. And swears under his breath because theres Andy, sharing a pillow with him and forehead pressed into Joe’s shoulder curled up like he always is. His hairs down and falling everywhere. It’s all he needs, all to know Joe’s fallen in love. Which is fucking dumb, so dumb. He knew he shouldn’t of let things get this far emotionally. It was fake, pretend, and he let himself fall in love, and a piece wonders maybe this would of happened regardless. Because him and Andy were best friends, who shared a space before, Andy talked to him about Star Wars, and got excited over animals around them, who laid in the van with Joe with a book and showed him the pages and dyed his hair for him because Pete promised but was busy when the time came.

So maybe it was always there and Joe just fucked himself saying yes and letting them grow, because now it wasn’t pretend anymore, or he didn’t want it to be, and Andy was going to get upset. Distance himself, or….or this could cause issues in the band and Joe closes his eyes and breathes. He can handle this, he can. Pretend dating isn’t so far off from real dating yeah? He can do it.

Which apparently, no he fucking can’t because he didn’t count on Andy. Andy who smiles at him through his hair when it falls free of it’s tie on the bus, and drums on Joe’s legs when he’s sitting on the floor and Joe’s at the table, who shares his food and comic books, shows Joe things he thinks are funny and goes out with him and the guys just to make sure Joe makes it back to the bus okay. Andy makes it so hard not to love him because everything he does, includes Joe in some stupid, and not so stupid kind way that kills him. He gets maybe two weeks into his freak out, when it finally spills.

There on the bus, and blessed be for once no one else is around and Andy’s playing his DS and watching something on the TV paying half attention to both and Joe blurts it out. Having watched him, laugh and move his stylus across the screen, occasionally smiling at Joe. 

“I love you.” He admits. And Andy’s head snaps back so fast, and Joe wasn’t expecting that...that look in his eyes that screams pain and betrayal and fuck? Holy shit. Fuck. Joe’s freaking out and before he can do anything Andy’s climbing up.

“Too far, fuck, Joe.” He hisses dropping his DS and bailing out of the bus before Joe can even figure out what the fuck he just did wrong. What the ever...he didn’t think Andy would get that upset. Maybe to be mad and remind him it was fake and he ran the words over in his head because to far? Maybe Andy wasn’t….

His eyes go wide and he’s stumbling off the bus after Andy and the drummer didn’t go far, curled up against the tire of the bus in the shadows between the two. Joe looks around and there in a good spot for there to be no hidden cameras of sorts and he kneels down. Thank fuck Andy didn’t take off somewhere Joe couldn’t find him. 

“I...I’m sorry.” Andy doesn’t look up at him and he continues. “It wasn’t fake...I meant it….and I’m sorry. I shouldn’t of…..I just.” He scratches his fingers through his hair and pulls. “Somewhere along the way I fell in love with you, really in love with you.” He gets eyes finally, Andy looking up confused and upset. “If you want to go to Pete’s bus and figure out a situation, we can do what you said. Go back to things the way they were before….but….you don’t want that….” He’s guessing, and he could be horrifically wrong and Andy could want that but he has to guess. 

Andy shakes his head rubbing his face a little. “I...I didn’t. When you kissed me, and it was just us I got this hope. Hope that you’d felt the same way, and you mentioned practice and it….I should've told you then….I should've told you before this all started and then you said you loved me and I thought...…I thought a lot…..to much” He breathes out, and Joe finally connects the look Andy had everytime he kissed him, that he wasn’t okay. 

“You...before all this?” Andy nods again, picking at his shoes and pushing his feet together looking anywhere but Joe. “Let’s break up….” He does look now, looking more confused, and a tad upset again. Joe holds his hands up quickly trying to fix what he said before Andy can panic. 

“No no...to. Let’s fake break up to real date?” He hopes that came out right. Andy’s grin is totally his answer, wide and perfect and fuck. Joe leans forward kissing the other who laughs against his mouth and he wonders if he should tell the band or just let them figure out somewhere along the way fake became real and neither of them cared.


End file.
